


A Happy Family

by TheClassics4



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-13
Updated: 2013-01-13
Packaged: 2017-11-25 09:32:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/637482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheClassics4/pseuds/TheClassics4
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rumpelstiltskin uses an old coat pin to find Baelfire. It takes him and Belle to somewhere they hadn’t expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Happy Family

Rumpelstiltskin didn’t know Baelfire’s name in this world, but he had still found him. His magic had worked enough to bring him here.

Belle was at his side and with her there, he knew he could be brave enough to do this. He could face his son. He could ask for forgiveness.

The building was large. Apartment buildings, it looked like. It was a modern building, unlike anything that had been in Storybrook. The façade was painted a burn orange with dark green stripes. Rumpelstiltskin didn’t much care for the combination, but it was the style of this world.

Belle squeezed his hand. Rumpelstiltskin was stalling. Even he knew it. All the decades spent in Storybrook were supposed to help him overcome his cowardice. Now, as he stood just a few walls away from his son, every ounce left of Mr. Gold crumbled away.

“You can do this.” Belle assured him. She looked so certain.

Nodding, he swallowed down his own insecurity, letting Belle’s courage lead him. They walked, hand in hand through the front doors. Inside his pocket, he could feel the small coat clip straining against the material. It would lead him to his son’s apartment.

There was a front desk with a woman sitting behind it, but they didn’t stop and she didn’t stop them.

The clip led them up three flights of stairs, all of which Belle supported him. Winding back through endless hallways finally led them to a seemingly random door. There was a number on a plaque next to the door along with the name “Reynolds, Bay.”

Rumpelstiltskin squinted at it. It was a strange way to claim your house.

The door opened slowly, giving Rumpelstiltskin enough time to back away causally. A woman emerged. She wore all white with a small pink apron around her waist.

“Oh, I’m sorry, can I help you?”

“I’m here to see Bae.”

The woman looked from Belle to Rumpelstiltskin, “I—I can’t say I’ve seen you before…Can I ask what this is about?”

“What does it matter? I’m his family.”

“Oh,” she said, realization dawning on her. She nodded, “You’re his son.”

“What?” Rumpelstiltskin snapped. “No, I—”

His eyes caught a small name tag the woman wore. Nurse Dawson. The plaque on his door. Belle seemed to have realized it the same moment; they gripped each other’s hands tightly.

“Yes, yes I’m his son.”

“He is…he’s not having a very good day today.”

“What does that mean?”

“He’s a bit disoriented this morning.”

“Disoriented?”

The nurse nodded and gave him a light pat on the shoulder, “Just don’t push him.”

She didn’t give Rumpelstiltskin a chance to speak at that. He and Belle were left standing in front of the door.

“Is this a hospital?”

“No,” he said and reached for the door knob. He started to turn to Belle, but she dropped his hand.

“I’ll wait here.”

His throat felt sticky as he opened the door making it hard to swallow. His palms were clammy and he rubbed them on his suit jacket.

The room was average sized. It was brightly lit with tan walls and brown carpet. A small dresser sat under the window adorned with pictures. They were of people Rumpelstiltskin had never seen. Two younger women with an older couple. Some were of children and he studied each one.

“Who are you?” A scared voice asked from across the room. Rumpelstiltskin spun, surprised to find a man lying in bed. He was elderly, with scarce white hair and thick glasses. The clip in his pocket had stopped shuttering and Rumpelstiltskin stared, open mouthed at him.

“Papa,” the man breathed, stressing each syllable.

The man watched him closely as Rumpelstiltskin limped over to the bed. The man—Bay—Rumpelstiltskin knew him as soon as he was close enough to see. He was so small, larger than he had been as a child, but this Bay was frail, his muscles withered and the veins in his hands were blue and bulged under the translucent skin.

But he still held that look in his eye. Hope and courage that Rumpelstiltskin never had. Even as he lie here, withered and aged, he’d never lost that.

“You’re you,” he said, still looking up.

Rumpelstiltskin muffled a sob behind his hand and collapsed onto the bed next to him. His voice was the same.

“My boy,” he whimpered and carefully leaned down to take this man in his arms.

Bay’s arms wrapped weakly around him, but it was all the strength Bay could muster. When Rumpelstiltskin pulled back, his tears had fought their way down his cheeks and they only came faster when he looked at his son again.

“I knew you’d follow me,” he said.

“Oh, Bae,” he said, taking Bay’s hand. “Of course I did.”

“And you’re not him anymore? You’re only you?” he asked, hopeful.

“It’s me, Bae.”

How many years had he been here alone? The pictures on the dresser were no doubt of his family—of Rumpelstiltskin’s descendants. There were adults and children. Generations of children. All of which Rumpelstiltskin had missed. Not only had he missed Bay’s entire life, but every one of his grandchildren’s as well.

He’d missed everything and he would never get it back. Now, Bay was old enough to be his father and looked as the bed he lay in would be the last place he would lie.

It was only a matter of time before Bay would no longer be here. The minutes they had together were ticking inside Rumpelstiltskin’s head, reminding him of just how precious these moments were.

Hanging his head, he put his other hand on Bay’s as well. “Bae, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

A broken breath escaped him, and he brought his son’s hand to his lips. Bae was always so forgiving. Rumpelstiltskin didn’t deserve it. He deserved to be hated and alone for what he’d done.

“Mama?”

Rumpelstiltskin jerked his head up and saw Bay’s eyes on the door. He turned, seeing Belle in the doorway, blinking. She gave him an apologetic look and bit her lip, uncertainly.

“Bae, this is—this is Belle,” he gestured for her to come in. Slowly she stepped forward, until she stood at Rumpelstiltskin’s side.

“Hello,” she said quietly.

“Mama, you came back,” he said, his eyes shining.

Before Rumpelstiltskin could think of how to react, Belle had stepped forward and was rubbing his cheek, smiling. “Bay.”

“I knew you would come back. You love Papa.”

“I do love your papa,” she cooed.

Rumpelstiltskin could do nothing but watch. His one true love and his son. They were together. At last. His son was calling Belle mama. In a perfect world it would be true. Belle would have been Bae’s mother. Had it not been for Rumpelstiltskin it still could have been so.

His Belle. She spoke so softly to Baelfire. She would have been a great mother to him. He deserved her and because of him, Bae had to grow up with neither of them.

Again, he found himself hiding sobs behind his fingers as he watched his family. Belle looked down at him and with her free hand slipped her fingers through his hair.

“Mama, tell me a story,” Bay pleaded, his eyes never leaving her face.

Without hesitation, Belle sat at Bay’s shoulders. He snuggled his face into her, she wrapped one arm around him and took Rumpelstiltskin’s hand in her other. Tears still fell onto his collar and tie, but he couldn’t seem to stop them.

This. This was all he’d ever wanted. His boy was finally here. Belle was alive, Bae was found.

“Once upon a time,” Belle started, “There was girl.”

Bae’s eyes closed and Rumpelstiltskin continued watching, mesmerized.

“And she made a deal with a man. To save her land,” Belle looked at him with a small smile. She turned back to Bae, “Everyone thought he was a monster. But she agreed to go with him anyway. He tried to scare her, but she knew better. He wasn’t a monster. He was just a man. And he was scared because he’d lost someone he’d loved.”

Her words soothed him. Tears no longer stained his cheeks and he let out one last rasping breath. Belle looked down on their son and watched him too. Her fingers rested on the side of his neck and Rumpelstiltskin sighed, finally feeling happiness fill him.

His family was here. It was the only thing he needed to be happy. And now, after centuries of torment and desperate searching, he finally let it engulf him.

“Rum,” Belle whispered, squeezing his hand. “Rum, I think he’s gone.”

“What?” he said, shaking his head. “No.”

But Bae’s chest had stilled, no longer rising and falling. His breath, which had before been audible, no longer sounded.

“No,” he cried softly, tears immediately finding their way back to him. He doubled over, his forehead pressing to his son’s knee. Clutching desperately to him, Rumpelstiltskin’s body shook with each silent sob. Above him Belle sucked in a small breath, but she didn’t touch him. “No, Bae, please. Don’t go. Not now.”


End file.
